Taiwan Central Bank Proposes Money Laundering Rules for Bitcoin

The Central Bank of Taiwan is eyeing new rules that would bring bitcoin under the island’s existing anti-money laundering regulations.

During a meeting with Taiwan’s legislative arm Monday, central bank governor Yang Chin-long was questioned over how the banking authority would address the current “opacity” in bitcoin trading in the country, as highlighted by the recent price plunge, according to Taiwan’s Central News Agency.

Responding to parliament member’s enquiries, the governor said the central bank has increased its efforts in monitoring the volatile movements of bitcoin prices and will issue warnings to investors over the risks of cryptocurrency transactions.

Further to that effort, Yang said the banking authority has also recommended to Taiwan’s Ministry of Justice that bitcoin trading should be regulated under current anti-money laundering (AML) rules in the financial sector.

While it remains to be seen if the suggestion will find support at the ministry, the effort marks the latest move by Taiwanese authorities in placing bitcoin regulation on their agenda.

Earlier this month, the island’s finance minister, Sheu Yu-jer, stated his belief that cryptocurrencies – which are treated as virtual commodities – should be taxed in Taiwan, adding that the agency is currently studying how to implement relevant taxation rules.

Yang’s comments also come at a time when other major Asian governments have already moved to regulate cryptocurrencies under anti-money laundering rules to prevent financial crimes.

As reported by CoinDesk, South Korea formally prohibited domestic banks from providing virtual, anonymous accounts for cryptocurrency exchange users and mandated a new real-name verification process from February 2018.

Malaysia, too, ushered in an anti-money laundering policy in early March, stipulating that know-your-customer processes must be followed for all cryptocurrency exchange activities, including crypto-to-crypto trading.